Only a very small percentage of companies make this strategic business link


Wilmington, DE. – August 6, 2009 - According to a new report from Aberdeen Group, only four percent of companies have an S&OP process that is driven by finance. This is just one of many interesting results featured in the new Aberdeen Group report, co-sponsored by Supply Chain Consultants (www.supplychain.com), entitled “Sales and Operations Planning: Integrate With Finance and Improve Revenue.”

The study highlights the result of 214 companies participating in a survey of Sales and Operations planning related initiatives. The goal of this study is to compare and contrast the view points of supply chain and finance organizations relating to S&OP processes.

“Many companies are facing pressures that better managing the S&OP process and integrating data with the finance function could help reduce,” said Nari Viswanathan, vice president/principal analyst with Aberdeen. “The actions companies need to take to match those that are best in class include investment in S&OP training, implement the ability to express S&OP plans in terms of revenues and margins, and implement exception management processes that are people centric and supported by the best practices and the best tools available to accomplish this.”

While ideally the output of the S&OP process should be used to drive the income statement and balance sheet of a company, the Aberdeen study shows that only 24 percent of companies have an automated workflow between S&OP projections and the revenue projections.

The study also examines how Best-in-Class companies are able to use performance management tools to proactively monitor daily performance against S&OP metrics, express the S&OP plan in terms of revenues and margins, and provide high level reporting for executive management.

“The linkage between the S&OP process seems so natural that I am a bit surprised that more companies have not taken advantage of existing tools and processes to bring the two together,” said Sujit Singh, Supply Chain Consultants’ chief operating officer. “The Aberdeen report on S&OP and finance reflects what some of our most forward looking customers are putting into place. Many of our current efforts are being invested in designing executive dashboards for fast and easy access to critical information.”

For a complimentary copy of the report, click here


About About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to AberdeenTM for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information – Opportunity – Insight – Engagement – Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to www.harte-hanks.com.


About Supply Chain Consultants
SCC is a 16-year-old supply chain management software and services company with Headquarters in Wilmington, Del., and European operations located in Antwerp, Belgium. SCC’s Zemeter software and related services help manufacturers better plan demand, manage inventories, plan production and replenishment and schedule operations. Zemeter enhances productivity and reduces operating costs at a wide variety of companies including Hexion Chemicals, Terra Industries, Invista, Sunsweet Growers and ANADIGICS. For more information, see www.supplychain.com.